Lokpal Member Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi succumbs to COVID-19

Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi, one of the Judicial Members of the Lokpal, breathed his last on May 2 after battling with COVID-19 for close to a month.

He was 62 years old.

On April 5, Justice Tripathi, former Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court, was reported to be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.

After getting admitted, he was on a ventilator. His condition had continued to be critical but stable, until May 2.

Justice Tripathi was one one of the four judicial members of the anti-corruption ombudsman, which is headed by Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose.

He started practice in 1981 at the Patna High Court, appearing in service matters and Constitutional, taxation, excise and commercial litigation. Justice Tripathi was also the Standing Counsel for the Indian government and the Income Tax Department, and had also appeared for the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Auditor and Comptroller General of India.

On October 9, 2006, Justice Tripathi was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Patna High Court. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court on July 7, 2018.

On March 23, 2019, he was appointed as a judicial member of the Lokpal.